A Stand Against Darkness
by AProudVirgin
Summary: With his sister becoming the newest Fall Maiden, Diamond has only one way forward, so with his friends and his years of training together they will seek to not only enroll in beacon but to work directly under Ozpin in the eternal battle against Salem.


Yang had known before she had ever asked him that her current boyfriend would say yes, when she had asked him out. He sat with most of the rather nerdy kids in class, but unlike them he hadn't completely given up on 3D girls just yet, in fact the reason she knew is because he had admitted that if anyone had asked them out he would say yes, just to know what it was like to be in a relationship over anything else. She doubted she knew he had said that to this day. But he wasn't stupid. He had known that she most likely just wanted a boyfriend for Valentine's Day and asking him out the week before would fulfill some strange week of dating requirement she had. Which she did have an actual reason for, while she was flirty and dated around a lot, she didn't want to be known as the town hoe or anything. She did have a little sister looking up to her after all, and didn't have the daddy problems some other girls her age had. But back onto the topic of her boyfriend who was a big nerd that no one expected her to keep dating, not even she had in all honesty, but he was sweet, a bit dumb at times, but she liked that too. Like for example on Valentine's Day he decided to put a card in her locker, which would have been cute if cards didn't spill out of her locker every year including this one. But luckily he also hadn't realised that the chocolates he bought wouldn't fit through the slit of her locker so he was able to give her that directly along with a much more thoughtful gift than she expected to receive from anyone she dated. Ember Celica, her shotgun gauntlets. She remembered complaining that they had enough recoil to knock out an elephant and he laughed. So you love it he had asked. And she did, working the recoil into her fighting style allowed her a lot of extra mobility when she wanted it, they really had fit her well. Even though he was definitely expecting to be dumped he had still taken a lot of time and care into making this. It was kind of painfully obvious that he was expecting to be dumped once the day was over, in fact Yang had to interrupt him with a kiss three times before he was rendered unable of forming a coherent sentence. But vacation had come and gone, it was March and they were still dating and Yang much like anyone who cared to pay attention to their relationship knew that her boyfriend was still prepared to be dumped. There were things that he obviously wanted to do but held back for fear of overstepping and being hurt later on. She was his first girlfriend after all and she usually didn't date anyone for this long, much less a nerdy kid like him. And Yang thought maybe it would be best if she tried talking to him before someone else tried to get any ideas in his head.

But looking at him now she realised she probably shouldn't have called him out saying that she wanted to talk. He already looked hurt, and at the very least she knew that he didn't want to break up either. Knowing that he most likely thought Yang would be breaking up with her, she decided to get to the point as quickly as possible. "Alright so I know we've been-" She heard a smack before a tall boy wrapped his arm around her boyfriend's neck.

"Sorry again pal, but it was bound to happen, why don't you give her a piece of your mind in return." He said. He let the smaller boy go and gave him two more pats on the back. "Don't hold back you two."

So Yang was too late after all. She watched the jerk leave, before taking a step towards her boyfriend who took in a shaky breath before exhaling and meeting her eyes. "Wait listen I-"

"I love you." He held her eyes and smiled for a moment, before looking down at his hands. "I love spending time with you, I love your smile, and how patient you are with me, I love how down to earth you are and I love hearing you laugh, even if it's at me. It's scary seeing you get mad, but I love seeing your eyes turn back to normal to let me know I'm not about to die. Your puns are terrible and I love all of them and I… I love being your boyfriend."

"I'll forgive you since you're a bit of a dummy." Yang said, letting out a sigh now confident that he would listen to her after hearing that. "But the only reason, we've been dating this long… the only reason why I haven't broke up with you yet. The only reason I won't break up with you yet." She took a step forward, and he held her eyes. Good nerves. She nodded. "Is because I love being your girlfriend." She smiled. He blinked at that. "So stop holding back and kiss me every once in-"

"Is now okay?" He asked. She nodded.

"Diamond do you think I'm funny?" Yang asked, lying on her couch while resting her head on his lap.

"I think you have your moments." He said. "But you don't really get the basic rules of comedy."

"What does that mean?" Yang pouted looking up into his sapphire blue eyes.

"Well jokes either has to be relatable or have a twist at the end." He explained.

"I've never heard about that rule." Yang's father Taiyang said. "Hit me with an example."

"Alright." Diamond nodded. Without even a moment of hesitation he began. "So a man hits a woman in a car accident. Who's fault is it?"

With the rule Diamond had earlier stated Yang raised an eyebrow. "The woman?" She asked.

"No it's the man's fault he shouldn't have been driving in the kitchen." He said. Taiyang burst into laughter.

"Alright a pretty good rule." He admitted.

"Are you trying to say you only want me to stay in the kitchen?" Yang asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, you can't even cook." He said. Yang's eyes switched over to red and he chuckled. "But I love seeing you try your best for me."

Taiyang blinked at that. "Have you guys had sex already?"

"Dad!" Yang shot off of Diamond's lap.

"Well it's almost been a year now, which is a whole lot longer than you've dated anyone." Tai justified. "Plus you're both around that age."

"Dad n-"

Yang was interrupted by Diamond covering her mouth, and gently coaxing her to lay back down on her lap. He gently combed through her hair. "Alright first, I didn't realise it was so cold in here until just now." He began. "And well I'm a teenage guy of course I want to have sex. But I don't want to be one of those guys who try to corner their girlfriend into doing it." He looked down at Yang. "So I'll wait for-" He winced. "Ruby's crystal broke!" Yang received a shove off of his lap. Before he bolted out into the snow.

Ruby had braced herself with her back to her mother's grave as she held her broken practice sword as two Ursa charged towards her. Before one of them tipped onto its side after receiving a kick to the head, within a few seconds she was scooped up before Diamond dashed back off towards the town with her. "Alright, maybe no more visiting graves alone?" The town was in sight now and Ruby nodded.

"How did you know I was in trouble?" She asked.

"I had a crystal to boost your aura on you." He said. "When it broke I knew that meant you had taken more damage than it could protect you from."

"Your crystals can do that?" Ruby asked, looking at her broken cross. He nodded.

"I can make a lot of different augments to them, but not any of the elemental things that Dust can do." Ruby nodded. "Are you alright if I put you down?" Diamond asked.

"Can you actually just carry me the rest of the way?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, of course." He nodded.

Ruby was happy to be home. "Maybe we should work on getting you a real weapon, Lil Gem." Diamond said. He even went out of his way to make dinner for the night. He made lasagna with a healthy side of meatballs and homemade cookies for dessert. "Do you have anything in mind?" He asked. Tai moved the cookies away from Ruby's reach.

"I kind of want a weapon like Uncle Qrow's scythe." Ruby said, pouting as her dessert was just out of reach. Even with the added reach of her fork, her father just slid it just a bit further. Diamond shook his head and gave her one cookie to munch on.

"Well if it's alright with you. Both of you, I wouldn't mind taking Ruby to the forge." He poked Yang's cheek.

"Of course." Tai nodded.

"How did you know Ruby was in trouble?" Yang asked.

"The jewelry I made you guys." Diamond said. "They're made from crystals from my semblance, and well I made them with preventing trauma in mind." He took out Ruby's old broken cross and the crystals dissolved from the framework before he recreated it.

"What so it's like a tracking device?"

"Well when it breaks yes." Diamond said. "Otherwise it's just jewelry." He glanced at the time and sighed, looking outside. "It gets dark so fast during winter. I should get going." He said.

"Do you really have to go?" Ruby asked. "I mean you already made dinner." She put on a big set of puppy eyes, and he thought for a moment.

"Pops a moment." Diamond said, dragging Taiyang's chair out of the living room and to the kitchen.

"What was that about last night?" Yang asked.

"A secret between men." Diamond said. He stretched, working out a schematic with Ruby.

"Was it about peeing without sitting down?" Ruby asked.

"The funny thing about that is most of us would rather sit." He chuckled.

"And what happened to your hands?" Yang asked, looking down at his bandaged fingers.

"Turns out I'm not very good at sewing." He grumbled. "But I already accepted the request so I've gotta get it done." He scratched the back of his head. "I really should get to work on that."

He let out a sigh and Ruby hugged his head. "We can come back later if you need to work on it." Ruby said.

"Yeah, don't want you going broke." Yang nodded.

"You still upset?" Diamond asked.

"Well yeah, I'm your girlfriend and I kinda feel like you haven't been telling me everything." She said. "First it was, that stuff. Your semblance and now some secret you and dad are keeping and where's the trust Diamond?"

"There are some things I'm not ready to share yet."

With Yang's clique being updated on her boyfriend's fishy behaviour the group of friends each went to visit his shop. They all visited him separately resulting in him having a rather busy day. After not finding any evidence of cheating they made sure to actually buy something over wasting his time. "Oh do you carry throwing knives?" The orange haired tigress faunus asked.

"You… don't use that though?" Diamond raised an eyebrow.

"They're not for me, my brother got into a bad fight with the smith that makes his knives, and it would be nice to help him find a replacement."

"Do you know what type of knife he uses?"

"Yes, but like I mean I can't really describe it." The small bell rang as a huntsman walked in and Diamond smiled over at Qrow.

"Well the knives are all over there, give him a call and maybe he can pick one out by looking at it." Diamond said, before turning to give Qrow his attention.

"Are you staying for the holidays?" Diamond asked. "Ruby wants to build a scythe like yours and I can let her use the forge but I'm not nearly as good at-" A flicker of aura was all the warning Diamond got before Qrow's scythe came down in sword form, Diamond moved back as the blade crashed down on his store counter. The blade carved down into the wooden counter before a blast sent splinter flying everywhere.

"Stay away from my family." Qrow sheathed his weapon and left the store and the girl, who was still on the phone, blinked at the sudden destruction, while holding the dagger her twin brother was excited to be able to buy. Diamond forced a smile and nodded taking out the box.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"I've survived angry customers don't worry." Diamond said.

"I don't think I can afford all of that." She said.

"That's fine." Diamond said. "How many of Yang's friends are still waiting outside?" He asked.

"Um… All of us?" She confessed, "We've kinda been just fact checking with each other and making sure we didn't you know falsely accuse you of anything." She said.

Diamond nodded. "Well can you make sure this gets to Yang's dad." He placed a puppy in a box along with several cans of food and two different colored bowls. "He'd prefer if no one else saw it, but I won't be mad if she sees it before christmas."

"You got her a puppy?" She asked. Being a tigress she wasn't very afraid of dogs, besides big dogs or pitbulls, even small pit bulls were scary.

"Yeah, and I'll be closed for repairs, so I might not be available for a little while, but you can leave me a request at school if you see me around." He said.

She watched him for a moment longer. "Five star customer service." She nodded, leaving behind a tip.

"Someone really destroyed your counter?" Diamond nodded. As his old friends saw that he had finally arrived at school during lunch.

"I built a new one before coming here though." Diamond said.

"I would have just stayed home." One of them crossed his arms behind his head. "But then again I don't have to go right back there after school."

Diamond nodded, "I think I'd rather go hunting today though." He said.

"You think there are anymore Ursa wandering near that cliff?"

"Oh yeah definitely." Diamond said, "I ran into them on Saturday, but I didn't have any of my gear so I had to grab the underclassmen and bolt."

"Doesn't that girl of yours usually try and steal you away during Wednesday lunch?"

"She thinks I'm cheating or something." Diamond rolled her eyes, "Her entire circle of friends spent all day at my store pretending to buy something on Sunday while digging for dirt."

"That is a red flag bro." The table shook their heads.

"When your significant other accuses you of cheating they're usually cheating themselves."

"Huh." Diamond rested his head on his palm as he thought about that for a moment. "I do remember us laughing at people in reality shows for being so dumb about that." He nodded.

"She'll probably get mad and defensive if you bring it up though. Plus she's popular so no one is gonna have your back."

"Besides us." A horned faunus nodded, before freezing. "Code Blonde!" The table scattered and Diamond turned to see Yang behind him. Her eyes were red from both rage and puffy from crying.

"Your friends are idiots." She said.

"Just like me." Diamond nodded, "But when we idiots combine we have the IQ of one slightly below average person."

"I'm not in the mood for jokes, where have you been?"

"Fixing my shop." Diamond said.

"What and you expect me to believe you just haven't answered your Scroll once, while you were tirelessly working away?" Yang asked. "Why are you keeping things from me?" She made a tight fist and her knuckles cracked, as heat waved off of her. Yang glared down into his sapphire blue eyes and she held the glare for three seconds before she could practically hear them shatter.

"Fine Yang." Diamond turned back away from her. "I thought it would be obvious since it's December but I was trying to get you presents." He said. "I wanted to get you something special, so I asked your dad for advice, then I wanted to knit something for you, something with your emblem on it, so I tried to knit and I messed up my hands, because I'm terrible at knitting, but I wanted to try until I got it right, until I made you something I would be proud to give to you. But you kept bringing up things that are hard for me to talk about, like trusting people. Besides the friends I've had for nearly a decade I didn't trust anyone and I did trust you and Ruby, and your dad, and I looked up to Qrow. I admired Qrow as a Huntsman, and then on Sunday he came in and wrecked my shop, and told me to stay away from his family. On the same day that all of your friends were staking my shop out all day, and Monday he wrecked it again, and he wrecked it again on Tuesday, and I'm sure that when I go there after school today it will be wrecked." He turned around to Yang, who was shocked. "That shop is the only thing my family left me when they died, and I've worked every day of my life to be able to make a living running it, and I'm-" He cut himself off. "You're dad has the present I was so secretive about."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." A jock pushed Diamond aside, "About time you broke up." Three other jocks blocked Diamond off from Yang while their leader went to put on the moves. "Now I've got a football team that needs seeing to if you catch my drift." He went to touch Yang's breasts and her eyes flashed red, before a crystal hand crushed his. "Ah! What the-" He looked back over towards Diamond. To see the three jocks coughing onto the ground as the wind had been knocked out of them. Diamond and Yang both felt a tug on their collar before they were lifted off the ground.

"Family meeting."

"Alright, so I'll talk to Qrow in a moment." Tai said. "Hopefully he didn't mess up your shop again today."

"And the reason I kept bothering you… is because I didn't want you to leave me." Yang said.

"I'll make that call now." Tai made himself scarce.

"I don't know if you've noticed it over the past year, but you've been around more than my dad has." Yang said. "And after hearing dad say that then you agree with the thing about sex, I thought it was supposed to be a hint that you would be leaving if I didn't make a move, and then you left, you said something about Ruby and left."

Diamond sighed. "Do you think I've been caring about Ruby more than you recently?" He asked.

"N-No I-"

"Well I have." He said. "Because ever since I started dating you she's felt alone." His sapphire eyes met hers and she blinked at that. "She's good at hiding things from you, but I know what it's like being completely alone like that. So the last few months I have been dedicating a lot of time to making her feel included, I helped her make new friends, I beat up the kids bullying her. I made sure that no matter what happened she could come to me about anything and I'd do my best for her. So I don't blame you for thinking that is someone else and that I might be leaving you, but just remember you're the only person I have ever fallen in love with."

"Diamond!" Yang jumped up going for a hug only to be stiff armed.

"I still have all the reason in the world to be mad, however." He said. "Especially if my shop is wrecked when I go home after school."

"No hug?" Yang asked.

"If you're alright with hugging your angry boyfriend then go for it." He said. Yang ducked under his outstretched arm and hugged him.

"I love you so much, thanks for looking out for Ruby."

Diamond did go hunting with his friends and they brought down the two Ursa he had run into with Ruby by her mother's grave with no incident and he headed towards the shop by himself to see a girl his age in a white cloak with two armed robots at her side. "Are you the owner of this property?" She asked.

"Yes, sorry went hunting with some friends." He bowed. Diamond opened the door.

"Wait here." She ordered the robots and walked in behind Diamond who set his sword down and took off his clawed gauntlets.

"Now how could I help you?" He asked.

"From what I understand you run this shop alone?" She asked browsing his weapons and armor.

"Yes, I've made everything here although I've had many inspired pieces from work I've seen elsewhere." Diamond said.

"I see." She nodded. "You don't have more of these gauntlets for sale?" She asked, looking at his diamond accented gear.

"They're a custom make, I make them with the Huntsman and their semblance in mind." She nodded. She took off her hood, to reveal she had snow white hair and icy blue eyes.

"I am Weiss Schnee heiress of Schnee Industries and I would request to have one of these made, and to kindly ask for your hospitality during my stay in Patch." She bowed her head. Diamond smiled while mentally sighing. Well Yang would have a panic attack if she learned about this right after the events of today, and Qrow would definitely destroy his counter again, but he definitely couldn't turn down the opportunity to have Schnee Industries as a potential sponsor.

"I would be honored." He smiled. "But if you're living here I won't be treating you as a customer is that alright?" Diamond asked.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, keeping her guard up. His smile grew incredibly warm and soft and he pulled her into an unexpected hug.

"Only family lives here." He said.

Weiss had experienced mornings when it was difficult to drag herself out of bed, which royally sucked as she was a light sleeper and usually woke up early in the morning, but never before had she woken up and wanted to stay in bed because she simply wanted to stay wrapped up in the sheets she was sharing with the crystal white haired boy beside her, it had always been because she didn't want to face the day ahead of her, or speak with her brother or father. Sometimes she just wanted to curl up in her sheets and cry, but for the first time, she wanted to stay in bed for a good reason. "Well the best reason I've had so far." She muttered to herself. Diamond exhaled in a small puff, before his right eye slowly opened. He stretched, before wrapping his arms back around her. "Do you have school today?" Weiss asked.

"It's a half day, before vacation." Weiss nodded, sitting up before he sat up as well before pushing her back down onto the bed. "So I wasn't planning to go anyways." He kissed her cheek, before wrapping the sheet back around the both of them.

Their had been quite a scene when Weiss left, she wasn't surprised that her father went public about her alleged kidnapping, he flipped out, and her brother had naturally chose his side and she waited until night time to leave, and just decided to fly out to the middle of nowhere. Which in her mind was the sweet little town of Patch. Where the nicest blacksmith she ever met worked and would take care of her during her stay. Weiss caught herself staring at him just as he smirked at her before tickling her sides. "Wait no stop!" She said through tears as she laughed. She tried in vain to protect her sides, before he finally stopped and picked her up carrying her right off to his kitchen and beginning to make breakfast.

"I'm starving." He said.

After a few days, Weiss learned that Diamond was quite the accomplished sleeper, and even if she was drawing on his face, much like at this very moment, he wouldn't wake up. It was 12 am on the dot of Christmas morning, and his phone started going off. Weiss checked to see who would dare disturb her work, and saw it was "Girlfriend" she sucked her teeth at the thought. What could that clingy psychopath possibly want with her beloved smith so late at night. Diamond had said that she was the first girl to ever share a room alone with him. So clearly they haven't done the thing yet. Yet… Weiss clicked the mute button on his phone and continued drawing on his face. She had drawn lots of rainbows and paw prints all over his face, and she looked over at the phone ringing again and rolled her eyes. "I bet I'm a much better kisser than her." She huffed, before her eyes lowered to his lips, just in time to see a puff as he exhaled. "Definitely." She nodded lowering herself down to lay down on his chest as usual, but this time scooting up to be closer to his head, and pecking his lips, before she opened his mouth just enough to kiss him properly. Even as Diamond was asleep and Weiss tongue probed his mouth she could feel that his was larger than hers, and as she ran her tongue over his teeth she felt that every part of him tasted sweet, as if he had eaten some candy without her, She pulled away before pecking his lips again, and sitting up, before swiping the evidence that she drew on his face off of the bed.

Weiss stretched, before feeling something whip her in the back. She turned around to see that Diamond had cleaned off his face and was armed with a towel. "W-Wait I can-" He whipped her hand, before grabbing a pillow.

"I hereby declare war!" She let out a fake scream as she grabbed a pillow herself and proceeded to have the most epic pillow fight on Christmas the world of remnant had ever known.

"Whelp Merry Christmas Snowy." Diamond gave Weiss her finished gauntlets. She nodded and transferred him over the funds to pay for her sapphire encrusted gauntlets, and she smiled.

"I'll see you next year Smithy." She placed the gauntlets down and hugged him. "I'm gonna miss you."

"In that case meet me at Beacon" Diamond patted her head, "If you've got the gusto to make it anyways." He chuckled.

"Why don't you ever take me hunting with you?" Yang asked.

"Because I don't want to." Diamond shrugged.

"And why not?" Yang asked.

"Because you're a liability." One of Diamond's friends muttered.

"What was that virgin?" She glared at him.

"Cold."

"Come on let me hunt with you guys." Yang said. "I can be one of the guys."

"You literally just insulted one of my friends." Diamond shook his head. "How would you hunting with us be a good idea?"

"I never get to go hunting with you and as your girlfriend-"

"Yo, do you always play the girlfriend card like that?" A black haired boy cut her off.

"Of course I don't now is just a-"

"Nah she does this all the time." Diamond called her out. "And this time makes the least amount of sense."

"Right, you're dad is a teacher at our school." A blue haired boy added. "He can take you hunting whenever you want and it will be a dozen times safer than going with us."

"Yeah because you might get one of us killed." A purple haired boy added.

"You're just going to let them bully me like this? I thought you loved me?" Yang turned on Diamond.

"Yang, you aren't coming hunting with us." Diamond said. "It doesn't matter what you say, being a huntsman is something we take very seriously and besides people we save during a hunt we don't take anyone with us."

"Then why don't me and you go hunting alone?" Yang asked.

"Because of the reason I just said." Diamond said. His friends could tell that he was getting aggravated, which was quite something considering he never flipped out at Qrow for destroying his shop counter. "Why don't you just go hunting with your friends?" He asked.

"Because I just want to spend some more time with my boyfriend."

"More time?" He blinked at her bewildered. "Why?"

She pouted. "Because I like spending time with you."

"Yang. Take all things in moderation." Diamond said. "You have been squeezing yourself into every aspect of my life ever since Christmas."

"And what's wrong with that?" Yang asked. "You weren't even there during Christmas."

"Yang you know I run a shop by myself, I make all the weapons I sell there, and as I told you several times leading up to Christmas I would not be there so that I could earn enough to keep myself afloat."

"I don't know why you're so upset, it's not like you didn't have your boyfriend during Christmas."

"Claw meeting?" The blue haired boy asked.

"Claw meeting." Diamond said. A sphere of aura surrounded the four boys as they all closed their eyes. Dude I don't know how you're still-

 _What the fuck does she want?! Bitch leave me alone! Let me fucking breathe!_

 **Wow, it's way worse than I thought.**

 _ **Well you guys have been dating for way too long.**_

 **Yeah she's too comfortable, plus you are kinda leading her along.**

Yeah have you even told her that you'll be breaking up once you get to Beacon?

 _You know what really pisses me off she's sitting over there just thinking about herself I have never not once received any sort of present from this bitch. Like I didn't have my boyfriend, well poor fuckin you I spent Christmas break working but you're right I should just go broke and homeless and spend time with my girlfriend!_

 **I hate to say it, like I really really hate to say it, but those jocks were right, you guys should have broken up forever ago.**

Yeah you should really cut this relationship off.

 _ **Have you guys even had sex yet?**_

 _No! I brought it up and nothing ever fucking came out of it, besides my shop being wrecked! How the fuck does me saying I won't force you to have sex and I'll wait for you translate to if you don't have sex with me I'm leaving?! And what the hell did she tell Qrow to get him to wreck my shop!_

 **Leaving a man out to dry like that is just wrong.**

 _ **Wait so, is she a virgin?**_

 _Yup, she doesn't do anything but babysit her little sister all day, and as you can see she isn't doing that so her little sister is home alone, with the puppy I bought._

So that's why you wanted a puppy all of a sudden. I hope they take good care of him, I don't raise many dogs like that.

 _I know Ruby will, she's a good kid._

 _ **Oh right, the red hood, breaking up with Yang might jeopardize your relationship huh? Damn dude.**_

 **I still think you should just do it. We haven't gone on a real killing spree in awhile because of this whole thing.**

There was a few moments of silence, before Diamond pulled his claw out of the group breaking them all away. Diamond turned to see Yang talking to one of the guys from her circle. He laughed, while she looked down texting uninterested. "Well I very much doubt I'll be getting another girlfriend anytime soon, but I think you should see other people." Diamond said. "Just don't leave Ruby alone anymore alright?"

"Wait what?" Yang looked up from her phone.

"We're breaking up." Diamond said. "So take better care of Ruby."

"WHAT?!" Her eyes turned crimson red and the snow around her melted as she burst into flames and in the blink of an eye the four boys scattered. Diamond bolted to his shop and created a wall of diamonds to keep anyone from entering while he was gone. He got a text and he modified it, and stretched the diamond wall to be within the actual woodworkings of the building, and his friends walked through the wall that was blocking the door.

"Well that got my heart racing."

"Man I almost forgot about bandit camps." Diamond said.

"Maybe we'll even find a few damsels in distress."

"Dibs, if we get one."

"May the moon bless us each with one." The boys donned their Grimm masks and similarly themed outfits, with black rugged furs and protective bone plating before turning off the lights and heading off into the wilderness.

Ilia had been separated and captured from the other members of the Fang. She was sure Adam's group had made it fine, but her much smaller group had all but been slaughtered. The only real reason she was alive is because she was a girl, and bandits had uses for girls. She shook her head and focused on the wall behind her, if only there was a mirror or something she could use to blend in with it perfect- "Alrighty now, we've been pretty lucky with our haul lately." Her head shot towards a bandit as he walked down the room looking over at each of the shackled women. "Once you're all trained we'll make some great money off of-" A clawed gauntlet shot through his chest, and Ilia saw a Grimm mask flash into existence before his throat was torn out from the figure behind him, as three other figures swiftly and quietly dispatched the guards around the women.

"Brothers." Ilia whispered, shifting her scales. "Release me, I can fight alongside you." A mask tilted at her, before shaking their head no and placing a single clawed digit up to their lips. They left as quickly and as silently as they had came in. Ilia could only sigh in response and wait until they returned.

Which they did, in a fairly decent time. Ilia figured that they must have only cleared out the nearby rooms so they could sneak off back into the forest without incident, but the figures loaded up the girls they were seven of them and only four rescuers three of them loaded up two girls each while Ilia was held alone. And to her surprise they simply walked out of the camp. Right through the front door and Ilia saw the camp littered with bodies, which would definitely attract Grimm in a few days.

Ilia was brought into a blacksmith shop before finally being properly unbound, by the masked figure that carried her. The others had all gone elsewhere. "Who are you?" Ilia asked.

"A young blacksmith." He removed his mask, "How do you feel about having some snacks while I make you some dinner?" He asked, putting on a warm smile.

"Why would you do that?"

"I've gotta eat too, plus I don't feel very good just leaving you out in town to fend for yourself." He said. "Plus just because you're a faunus doesn't mean I need a reason to help you." He hugged her head, before cupping her cheeks in his hands. "Now how does spaghetti and meatballs sound?" He asked, smiling.

Ilia doubted the boy before her had pure intentions, but her stomach made her hunger known before she could say otherwise. "You still haven't introduced yourself." She said.

"Well unless you plan on staying I don't really feel like that would be in my best interest." He began preparing dinner. "You're obviously a member of the White Fang, and while I won't hesitate to help someone in need. I don't really want people knocking on my door."

"Is that because you're a killer or because you don't want to be associated with the White Fang?"

"Well actually it's more because I don't want my ex's uncle to destroy my counter again." He let out a sigh. "Or for her to think I was cheating on her or anything."

"I know what you're trying to do." Ilia glared at him.

"You can leave right after dinner if you want." Diamond rolled his eyes. "But this isn't the first time I've done this and I know most people would like a day or two just to rest."

" Yeah well I would like to leave right now." Ilia said.

Diamond thought about that before shaking his head. "Nah, so in return for saving your life. Humor me and wait until dinner."

Ilia grit her teeth as she took a shower. He didn't give her a reason not to trust him and more importantly a reason to attack him. But he also didn't pay her too much attention after that conversation. She had taken a gun with her into the bathroom and kept it close to her. If he tried anything she'd be testing it out on their maker.

"I left a clean change of clothes outside the door." Diamond said after a quick knock. "Dinner should be done in ten so take your time." She heard him begin humming as he walked away from the door.

Dinner was good, but as Ilia had suspected that her plate might have been drugged or something she demanded his plate instead. He pouted angrily. "That was the last of my feta cheese." He grumbled eating the food he had taken out for her.

"How long can I stay here?" Ilia asked.

"Until I'm sick of your shit." Diamond grumbled. She nodded eating the food. It was pretty good, not bad at all. "Hell if you want some money while you're here you can even work the shop."

"Are there separate beds?" Ilia asked.

"I live alone." Diamond grumbled.

"I'm not sharing a bed with you." She said.

"The ground is always available." He said.

"What happened to your hospitality?" She asked.

"Someone demanded I give them my feta cheese is what happened." Diamond said. Diamond turned on his phone and it went ballistic for a few moments before ringing. "What a loving ex I have." He sighed. He answered the phone. "What's up?"

" **Don't you what's up-** " The girl took a deep breath. "Diamond I get needing some time to yourself and I promise I won't pester you anymore."

"So your name is Diamond?" Ilia whispered.

"Who was that?"

"Someone I met raising a bandit camp with the guys." Diamond sighed.

"Why should I believe that?" Yang asked. "You break up with me out of the blue and turn off your phone and now I can hear some random whore who doesn't even know your first name in the background!"

"I don't care whether or not you believe me." He sighed. "But…" His eyes closed and ilia recognized that hurt feeling when they opened again. "I do sincerely hope you can find someone that can make you happy Yang. Sorry for being such a shitty boyfriend."

Diamond hung up the phone and put his food in the fridge. "See you if you decide to stick around." He headed to his bedroom.

The next day the shop was pretty busy. Ilia knew how to use a cash register just fine, and Diamond let her sit in a comfy chair most of the day since sleeping on the floor didn't do her back any favors. So the day went well, and Ilia did get plenty of time to think about her situation. She knew that she would be staying here until she had enough money to leave, but leave to where? She knew some member still in the Fang would have killed to be in her position, since Adam reinforced that whole member for life rule with the death penalty. And Ilia knew that a the girls especially probably would stay put with Diamond here for however long he'd have them. Because facing facts, he was a sweet patient and chivalrous person. "So Diamond's got you working the shop front?" A boy her age chuckled. A pink and brown haired girl was slightly behind him. "Yo D! I need to leave one of the girls with you!" He shouted. "Don't worry Diamond will take care of you." He patted her head. "He's a nice guy." He waved and Diamond came up to the cash register beside Ilia.

"Alright then." Diamond said, "Oh yeah, I was thinking about turning my left hand into pure diamonds."

"Please don't." Ilia said.

"Why not?" He crossed his arms,

"Because that is stupid expensive." Ilia glared at him. He chuckled, and covered his left hand in diamonds in an instant.

"You were saying?" He asked.

"I think you should wait until you actually lose a limb for that." HIs friend said as he took his leave.

"Ilia do you mind if I give her some attention for a little while?"

"Why would I?" Ilia asked rolling her eyes. He cupped her ear and whispered something she didn't quite catch. "What was that?" He whispered again. "One more time." He kissed her ear and chuckled, pulling away and going over to without a moment of hesitation, wrap the girl now in his care in a warm hug.

"I'll do my best to take care of you." He promised. The girl was tense and awkward for a moment, before Ilia watched her melt into his arms. "What's your name?" He asked. She traced her fingers on his shoulder. "Neo? That sounds pretty." He began walking off with her, just before another customer came in and Ilia put on a smile. Before seeing the confused look of the silver eyed girl in front of her.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"Diamond is letting me work here, until I save up enough to buy a ticket to Mistral." Ilia smiled. "You… aren't the girl that called him yesterday are you?"

"No… that was my sister." She said. "How do you know Diamond?"

"He stormed a bandit camp last night and brought me home." Ilia said, "Something about not leaving me out in the cold." The red haired girl nodded.

"Is he here right now?" She asked.

"Yes, but I don't think letting you talk to my boss will help me keep my job." Ilia said.

"He's like a brother to me, I- I just don't want this to be goodbye." She said.

"Fine, just so you know, he's taking care of a mute girl right now, so just be aware of that." Ilia sighed. She nodded and went off to the house part of the shop.

"I don't think I have any rock salt to make ice cream, so how is cookie dough?" Diamond asked. He watched Neo nod and gave her three scoops of it, before checking the stove. Neo tapped, the side of her bowl to get his attention, and Diamond turned to see Ruby.

"I…" Ruby looked down. "I still want you to be my bro." She said.

"I never planned to stop." Diamond chuckled, "I just imagined it would be pretty difficult when I moved to Beacon."

"Is that why you broke up with Yang?" Ruby asked. Neo perked up at that.

"I guess so." Diamond sighed, "I mean we've been falling apart for awhile now."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Well when was the last time you saw her smile or laugh when she was with me?" Diamond asked.

"She laughed uh… last week? No wait, she was laughing at a video."

"Yeah, and I could bet she was just spending that time with me because we were dating, and as a couple we are supposed to spend time together." Diamond, returned to the stove. "Plus I might be going to Beacon early, I need time to sell out stock and raise enough to pay rent while I'm gone. This shop is the only thing my parents left me, and I really would hate to see it go."

Neo tapped her bowl, Ruby didn't understand sign, but she had a determined look in her eyes, as if she was motioning something very important to him. "You'd run the shop for me?" Neo nodded. "I'd be gone for four years are you sure?" Diamond asked. Neo nodded again. She made a quick hand motion. "Yeah of course I'd visit, I doubt I have four years worth of stock here, but God Neo I could kiss you right now." Neo nodded again and Ruby instantly saw her gameplan, she shook her head, as Diamond gave in and kissed Neo's cheek.

"I'll go try and explain everything to Yang." Ruby said.

"Wait, Lil Gem." Diamond plucked her up by the collar. She let out a squeak before being pulled into a hug. "I'll talk to her, it probably won't go well during school, but let's try and keep you out of the crossfire." Ruby looked up into his bright blue eyes before she nodded. She gave him a hug back, and took her leave, bolting out back into the cold.

Ilia couldn't help but think what in the world Diamond had been planning with that surprise kiss, although some part of her suspected that he wouldn't be all business with her forever, she still wasn't expecting affection. Everything she had learned in her life up to this point had taught her that the only reason why a human would tolerate a faunus was for some form of personal gain, or for lust, but she felt arms wrap around her, and she turned to see the pink and brown haired girl. "Uh, Neo right?" Ilia asked, she had to remember that Neo didn't actually know that she wasn't human and that she was unaware of her ties to the White Fang. Which meant that being distant with her, would seem like her just being an insensitive prick. Neo nodded, pulling back to hold out her arms. She wanted Ilia to hug her back. Ilia mentally sighed while complying. She didn't like questioning her own beliefs, it was all she had to justify the crimes she had committed after all. _Smooch._ She felt a kiss on her cheek, and turned to Diamond, and he cupped her cheeks, before kissing her forehead.

"Thanks for working so hard today." He said. "I… I just want to spoil you for a little bit, is that alright?" His incredibly soft affectionate eyes, demanded she say yes. But… But what? What was her justification against giving humanity one more chance? Ilia nodded, and his experience taking care of victims of abuse showed instantly. There hadn't been a split second for the rest of the day where Ilia didn't feel like she wasn't the most important person in his world. Thinking back to all of the girls who would have killed ot be in her position once again, Ilia's mind was made up now. Now she just had to fight Neo for first- She looked up at Neo who blushed and looked away. -Place? Was she… did she swing that way?

Neo had fallen in love with their dynamic already. There was no hesitation between her asking Diamond for something and her getting it, and she loved how Ilia put up a flimsy wall that broke away to show all of the affection she was willing to give away after Neo broke it down. But even more than that, she loved watching Ilia get flustered. "N-Neo." Her hands gently caressed Ilia's bare skin, before Neo got naked as well, and dragged her unwilling friend back into the shower. She doubted she could really force Ilia to do anything against her will, since she was clearly a better fighter than she was at the moment, but that just meant she didn't mind nearly as much as she pretended to. Neo could tell the last girl Ilia had fallen for didn't show her the same feelings back. And that everything going on in this little shop was a nice change of pace for the both of them. Having a patient and kind person watching over them, who also didn't mind either of them being a bit bratty, was nice. Ilia let out a cute chirp, as Neo's hands drifted over to her rear, while her back was pressed against the cool tiles. "I never would have guessed you'd be such a perv." Ilia said.

It's always the quiet ones. Neo mused to herself.

Meanwhile while Diamond was setting the table he heard a strange warping sound, before turning to see a tall intimidating woman, with her bone white mask in her hand her long crimson blade drawn. She had crimson eyes that pierced through his thoughts. "So rumor has it you broke up with my daughter."

"Well… I didn't think you wanted her getting involved with Salem." He stared up into her eyes.

"I didn't want you to get involved either, the tribe needs people like you and your friends around to actually get work done." Raven said.

"And yet the world needs people like us to make a stand against Salem." He said. "Ozpin already accepted us, we'll begin our special training starting April."

"So I've only got three months to change your mind then?" She sighed. Sadly Raven knew that Diamond wasn't going to go down easily, his semblance made sure of that, in fact chances are her sword would break in a real fight against him. "I'm guessing you'd want me to go see Yang or something like that?"

"I dunno about that, I think it's a bit late for you to be a mother to her now. Although I know she has questions. But I'm not trading my foreseeable future so my ex can have some questions answered." Diamond said.

Raven chuckled. "I thought you said you loved her with all your heart?"

"And I love my sister much more." Diamond assured her.

"The Fall Maiden." Raven said. "I imagine if she knew Qrowe had went out of his way to trash your shop she would have struck him with lightning a few times already." She crossed her arms leaning back against the fridge. "Does she still send money?" Raven asked.

"I told her to stop." Diamond said, "The shop is doing well now, I've learned a lot about making weapons, and studying semblances."

"Did you ever have sex with my daughter?" Raven asked.

"No." He shook his head.

"Amazing." She shook her head, "She had you for a full year and just left you out to dry. To think I avoided doing anything as well." Her eyes softened to be a bit less of a glare and rested her blade on his table, "I'm going to visit that dog, maintain my blade." She said.

"Sure thing." Diamond nodded as she warped off using a small dagger to cut open his porta;. He set dinner up on the table and knocked on the bathroom door. "Dinner's on the table!" He called out.

"R-Raven?" Taiyang was truly shocked to see her out of the blue like this. If there was any occasion he would expect a surprise visit it would have been during a birthday or a holiday, or ironically on the day she had left. She glanced around to see there was no dinner being made.

"Looks like I should have stayed at Diamond's for food." She said. Zwei barked seeing the stranger before running up and smelling her to recognize Diamond's scent lingering on her before doing two happy barks and a backflip. "I'll never know how Ike breeds these hunting dogs." She said.

"I… Why are you here?" Tai asked.

"I would like to speak with my daughter." Raven said, "I even came unarmed." She held out her hands.

"Talk to her about what?" Tai asked.

"About Diamond." Raven said. "I'm not going to stop her from pursuing her dreams don't worry, but while I'm waiting for my sword to be repaired why not visit my family right?" She tried to make that sound as pleasant as she could manage which in her tone, wasn't very pleasant in the slightest.

"Well I guess I'll order a pizza." Tai said. "Try being nice to them alright?" He went to hug his old teammate, who let the interaction happen but didn't hug him back, which was better than what he had been expecting. Much better than what he had been expecting to happen today nonetheless. "And for what it's worth I'm happy to see you." He smiled.

There was a small voice telling her to hug him back. It started off small before growing a bit louder, and as he slowly pulled away Diamond's voice shouted, _Do it you bitch!_ He put a goddamn tracker on her. "Remind me to stab Diamond before I leave." Raven hugged Tai back, hugging was nice but still overrated in her mind. _No it's not, hugging is the best thing in the world don't let go._

"Sure thing." Tai chuckled. He patted her back, before pulling away. "I guess I'll have to thank him when you're done. _If you scare Ruby I will actually mind rape you by the way, so yeah don't do that._ If Raven had known that she'd been suckered into acting like a loving mother she wouldn't have gone. _Which is why I didn't tell you. Plus you didn't have a real choice. Subliminal messages are quite powerful._ When did you even do this? I made sure we were never within arm's distance. _A magician never reveals his secrets. But don't worry I won't listen in this whole trip, try to have a good time though._

Amber knew it would be warming up a bit by the time she reached Patch, the snow had already melted around Beacon. She took a deep breath of the air that was growing nice and warm. She decided to forward along a message to her little brother, just so he was expecting her.

"Mom… I-I've always dreamt of this moment." Yang went in for a hug, taking it without hesitating, unlike her mother. Who tried giving a warm hug back.

"Well sorry for coming so unexpectedly, but seeing one of the few people I trust cry can get me to do stupid things as well." Raven said. "And before you take that the wrong way I'm talking about Diamond."

"W-What?" Yang's felt her fingers twitch before Raven pulled away from her.

"Yeah, before you start getting mad at him, he only realised I was your mother a little while ago, and even then no one knows when my base is." She took a seat on Yang's bed. "Don't worry he's convinced me to stay here for a little bit, but I think there's a lot about Diamond that he's been hiding that I think you should know." Raven patted the spot beside her. "I'll answer some questions you have later on."

"Why is Diamond someone you care about so much?"

"Not many blacksmiths out there that would make me armor and weapons, without turning me into the police, and even less of them are as good as Diamond is." Raven said, "He made you those gauntlets didn't he? You know how much he pours into his work." Yang nodded, staying quiet. "Alright so I guess a big secret Diamond has been keeping is that he is a killer." Raven said. "Before you two started dating he would go hunting with his friends and they'd scout out Bandit camps, and under the night of a new moon, when there's no moonlight to give them away they would dress up like Grimm and slaughter every single bandit there, spare maybe a leader and a person of importance. Sometimes those people are smart and they can get their hands on things he and his friends can't get into Patch, and they'd slaughter them once the bandits had bolstered their ranks, or simply steal the goods they wanted without causing any trouble if they were having a hard time. But they always saved any hostages that were being kept tied up. They'd bring them home feed them, dress them, help them get back on their feet, let people that have been starved beaten and raped, know that their was somewhere in the world that was safe for them, someone in the world that truly cared." Raven said. "And when you both started dating he stopped. He stopped killing people when he was with you because the thought of looking you in the eyes after a night of murdering someone would never be okay with him, and yet the thought of leaving people to suffer every night always kept him up late." Raven shook her head. "So he wasn't lying that night, that was the girl he carried back home."

"Why do you know all this?" Yang asked.

"It would be terrible if my only blacksmith died off, I try to make sure that doesn't happen." Raven said. "Now as for why he broke up with you, he is trying to keep you from fighting for something you should stay clear of."

"What do you mean?" Yang asked.

"He's going to Beacon, for three reasons. The most important one to him, to be reunited with his older sister. The second reason to work for Ozpin, and I mean work for Ozpin him and his friends aren't there to be students, they are going to work for Ozpin to and this leads into the third reason. Revenge their families." Raven said. "I'm not sure he's considered this, but he may also be protecting Ruby this way. Those same people did kill her mother after all."

"Did you try to save her?" Yang asked, making a tight fist.

"Yes." Raven let out a sigh, "But unlike Diamond I don't have a way of knowing the second someone I care about needs my help."

"So why did you leave?" Yang asked.

"This isn't the life for me. It's not like I don't care Yang, but having kids wasn't something I had ever planned on." Raven shook her head. "I practically begged Summer to watch over you as I ran away." _You're making her feel like an unwanted child._ Raven looked back up at Yang who looked down at her hands which were resting on her lap. What should I say? _The truth._ You don't know what the truth is. _I'm in your head of course I do._ "It's scary having a kid. It half looks like you, half looks like the guy you loved. But I'm both proud and jealous of you. I'm proud because even though you've been left alone to pick up the pieces of your life you're still standing. You're popular, you've managed to hold onto and protect the things you care about."

"What are you jealous of?" Yang asked.

"Well I haven't had sex with Diamond in a year because of your relationship." Raven said. _Why?! Why would you say that?!_ Fuck you that's why.

"Was he… Mad about that?" Yang asked. "Never having sex?"

 _Yeah._ "No." _I hate you._ I know. "It's not too late to get back together with him." _Yes it is I'm not dating anyone when I'm attending Beacon so-_ "You just need his Sister's approval. A portal opened up and after a few seconds a girl stuck her head through it. She looked over at Raven. "Welcome back to Patch."

"Oh thanks." She stepped through while leading her horse in through as well. "I should probably bring my horse outside."

"Amber this is my daughter Yang." Raven said.

"Well I guess you earned a worst mother of the year mug." Amber chuckled. "Well if you ever need anything my brother Diamond would be happy to help."

"Yes about that, Diamond believes he can't have a girlfriend when he attends Beacon so he went and dumped her."

"Really how long have you two been dating?" Amber looked over Yang again.

"A year. I… I'm going to Beacon to become a huntress to so it won't be a long distance relationship." Yang added.

"You might be a bit too pretty to be dating my brother." Amber said.

"But I don't want to date anyone else." Yang said.

"I understand, but when I say you're too pretty I mean that Diamond won't have the time to tell other guys who are hitting on you off. You probably know how absorbed he gets into his work and he'll be like that whenever he's studying or sparring. If other guys are trying to get your attention he isn't going to notice and even if he does until he's satisfied with his progress he isn't going to care."

"That's fine I don't care about any other guys. I'm just… Proud to be his girlfriend." Yang said. Remembering back to last Year. Raven felt her head take a lethal hit as a bullet bounced off of her forehead. She heard a crystal shatter behind her ear as she opened up a portal. Causing Diamond to step out. With his claws at the ready. A figure jumped through the window and his claws tore into their neck. The aura saved them from lethal damage. But they were forced back out the window. Which Diamond jumped out of sealing up with his semblance as he pursued the attacker.

"What's the matter kid?" The Bounty Hunter stood up in plain sight with both of his arms out. "Can't keep up?" He smirked. He vanished and he appeared with his guns pointed at Diamond's head. The crowd gasped. Diamond's hand pierced through his chest and held his beating heart behind his back. Without a word he crushed the man's heart and kicked the corpse off of him. He encased the corpse in gems and with a swipe of his hand it flew off over to the forest. Before he dashed after it until he was out of sight, before looping back around to Yang's house and letting the crystal mask and armor shatter as he ran back up the stairs.

Zwei let out three barks before sitting down. "Are you sure?" Diamond asked. He rolled onto his stomach and barked two more times. "Alright good boy." He rubbed his stomach. "Why is there a horse in here?"

"Right… could you step outside for a moment?" Raven asked. Diamond nodded, not before tossing a crystal to her. "Thanks." Raven decided to socket it onto her necklace. Before waiting a moment while Diamond went outside.  
"Will you try to talk to him?" Yang asked.

"I'll try, but no promises." Amber led her unwilling horse through another portal.

Diamond built up a stable around the horse and left some dust powered lamps inside to keep it nice and warm. "So what happened to that guy?" Amber asked.

"Dead." Diamond cut open a metal barrel and filled it up with cold water before dragging it back out to the horse.

Neo waved at Amber. "Hi." Ilia let out a sigh. "Don't you think four is a bit of a crowd Boss?" Ilia agreed upon Diamond's return.

"Boss?" He chuckled. "Right I guess I am the Boss here. And this is my sister Amber, Amber this is Ilia and Neo." Neo hugged her.

"Is she deaf?" Amber asked, noticing that she was very quiet for someone who seemed so happy to meet someone new.

"No just mute." Diamond said. "And I think she's mute by choice." Neo nodded. While that itself hinted at quite a few underlying problems, there wasn't much Diamond could do about the past. He gave her side a quick tickle and she jumped away from him. "Good to know." Neo fled behind Amber and pouted from a safe distance. "Well I already finished dinner so you can go eat. I've still got to finish working on Raven's sword."

"Right about your ex. She's willing to put up with you. And your faults, you should give her a-"

Neo covered Amber's mouth. Amber looked down at Neo before she fled back to Diamond's side and dragged him into the forge. "Guess I should have figured." Amber let out a sigh. "What about you?"

"As long as I don't get kicked out I can't say that I care whether or not he has a girlfriend." Ilia said.

It was incredibly hot in the forge and even though it was Neo refused to release Diamond. Which was cute. He was already used to this type of heat, but when they finally left she let out a sigh of relief and he got her some ice cream. He kissed her cheek and gently combed through her hair. "What time can I close the shop by?" Ilia asked.

"I usually call it a night at around 10:30." Diamond said. He peeked over to see Ilia ignoring a potential customer in turn for calling it a night. She flipped the sign over to say closed and Diamond sighed. "I'll get it then." I opened the door and saw that it had began snowing and that the customer was probably just a refugee from the cold. The sound of chattering teeth, filled the room and Diamond chuckled. "Let's get you nice and toasty at the forge." He smiled, leading the snowy figure off to the forge, where the snow basically evaporated into thin air. He hummed helping the figure out of the winter jacket and boots, before they shook their head causing their short down patted hair to become messy and reveal two familiar cat like ears.

"Oh thank god." The tiger faunus let out a sigh, before looking over at Diamond. Who brought over some bags of big marshmallows.

"The chocolate would melt instantly if I brought it in here, so I made a fountain." He smiled.

"On a five star system I'd give you twelve stars of customer service." She said.

The tigress stayed in his company as she thought about how to break the news to him. She hadn't expected a blizzard to rush over Patch so suddenly, or to spend the time she was supposed to break the news to him warmly nestled in his lap roasting marshmallows, and dipping them in chocolate. She looked back at him, before letting out a sigh. "Don't worry I won't send you back into the cold." He smiled.

"You might." She said. "I heard about you and Yang breaking up and… that's she wants to get back together with you." He nodded, she watched to see if he was upset that she brought it up, and well he seemed more concerned about her still. It was only small things that most people wouldn't notice, but he continued creating small cool crystals along his skin that were smooth to the touch and were quickly swapped out in order to keep her body cool while they relaxed. His arm that was wrapped around her stomach gently coaxed aura into her body to keep her heat resistance up. "Well I didn't come all this way out in a blizzard to help Yang out." She said. He let out a small sigh of relief.

"That's good." He nodded.

"You shouldn't go back out with Yang." She said. "I… well I'm still pretty new here in Patch and I was willing to do pretty much anything to be a popular kid. I could never be one back in Mantle." She looked down at her hands, before shaking her head. "They had kept me out of the loop, but Yang's been cheating on you. She always said she had her reasons for keeping you around, but she doesn't have any respect for the relationship you had and I have my doubts that she respected you too." She swallowed, expecting right about now, to be the time he got mad, but she actually received a scratch behind the ear, followed by a warm yet cool squeeze.

"Thanks for telling me." He said, he smiled warmly. "It really means a lot to me that you came to warn me. Especially with this type of weather out." She looked up into his blue eyes to see he was being genuine, it wasn't some customer service act, he was really taking the good side of this terrible situation. "Now I know that I should definitely just ignore anyone talking to me about Yang." He nodded.

"When did you get so popular with girls?" Amber asked.

"Who knows?" Diamond shrugged. "Sleep well?" He asked, looking over to see that she had committed the sin of burning bacon, and silently screaming.

"I doubt any of us slept as well as your newest guest." Ilia grumbled. "Why did we let her cook?" Amber frowned.

"Because she apparently lied." Diamond said. The tigress yawned stretching and Neo glared daggers at the purple haired girl, who had spent the night cuddled up on Diamond. The flexible little vixen had managed to curl up onto his chest and sleep with their faces only a thought away from kissing. They probably did kiss, she probably stole it those were hers! She was here first! Well second… but Ilia didn't seem to care. Well technically if anything Amber was here first, but she supported the ex so she didn't matter, what did matter is that Ilia, didn't mind Neo's advances on her or Diamond and- "You wanna come and buy some food with me Neo?" Neo signed that she didn't have a jacket.

"You can borrow mine." The vixen said. Okay maybe she wasn't too bad, but if she slipped up-

"Thanks Violet." Diamond said. He took Neo's hand and lead her off to where the forge was, causing her to stop as he went and fetched the toasty clothing and led her outside. "You don't like Violet much huh?" Neo shook her head. And signed to him that she was jealous. "I see." He stopped and kissed her. "She did interrupt your alone time with me after all." He gave her one more kiss, before lifting her up onto his shoulders. He didn't seem to have a problem shuffling through the snow that was over his knees in height. "But I'm sure you'll manage to get me alone again soon." He chuckled.

Knowing that the local Subway was usually open later than he was, Diamond assumed the employees were trapped inside. Since not everyone in town decided to train to try being a Huntsman since well Grimm was the stuff of the average person's nightmares. It was the force of chaos and destruction that kept humanity confined to walls and barricades to hopefully keep them safe at night. So most people were happy to live a peaceful life while the brave ones faced their fears. And knowing all of that on a day like today, that meant free sandwiches for Diamond and his guests.

"So how's the progress?" Yang managed to catch Violet alone during school. "I didn't think your brother would be on such good footing with them."

"Yeah." Violet shrugged, "Nerds of a feather I guess. He still seems pretty adamant about staying single while he's in Beacon." Violet reported. "His sister isn't helping either."

"I guess my mom was wrong then, either that or I didn't beg enough." Violet glanced past her as she watched a crimson blur ram into the group of boys, before watching the silver eyed girl pull out her playing cards, and showing off a new one.

"Well atleast they aren't mistreating Ruby right?" Violet shrugged.

"Well I would murder them if they did." Yang sighed. Also looking over to watch as they tried to trade with Ruby for the rare card, while Violet rolled her eyes at Yang's threat. She had gotten to train with them as a way of saying thanks for the warning and if Diamond was near his friends there was no way Yang would get a hit off, she'd probably break hear arm trying to punch something that solid. Between the four of them they were a really solid team. Diamond was their frontline for obvious reasons, Ike was their long ranged damage dealer, Odin kept all of them synced with a great deal of shotcalling and falling in more as the leader, and Vanitas was sure to punish any opening that arised. Violet really hoped she'd get a team that solid when she got to Beacon, but then again they had been friends for years prior if she got a team that good she'd probably end up dragging them down. Her brother had decided not to go with her to Beacon, not because he didn't pass the test or the responsibility scared him, but he wanted to become a police officer and work his way up the ranks to make some changes. It was way more noble than anything she had ever expected from him. She saw a glint of pink in the corner of her eye and took her leave. Neo was going straight for the table and before she even dropped the lunch off she kissed Ruby's cheek, causing the younger girl to blush. Yang got a tinge of anger as Neo was slowly turning Ruby over to her side, and as if sensing her frustration. Neo smirked over at Yang. Her fist ignited.

"I am going to pummel that mute slut into pulp." Yang said. Neo let out a silent giggle only really going through the motion before giving Ruby's breasts a quick grope before sitting on Odin's lap. She hugged him before signing over to Diamond. Yang watched the encounter, before Violet tapped her shoulder. "What?"

"She just told him what you said." Violet whispered, before Diamond's eye twitched and she made herself scarce. Yang however put on a smile.

"I wish they had left that bitch to die." She said through her smile, which Neo actually had a visible reaction too. A visible reaction that slipped by none of the boys at her table. After they all asked what was wrong Neo tried to tell them, but her hands were actually too shaky to sign properly and she shook her head pushing forward the lunchbox and putting on a smile before giving Ruby another hug and a kiss goodbye. Vanitas convinced Ruby to follow him somewhere and Odin and Ike went to see Neo home and Diamond crossed the cafeteria in an instant and his fist connected with Yang's jaw and she felt her crystal shatter. It had saved her from taking any serious damage but the ground under her had cracked. "What are you-"

"Shut it." A fist rocketed into her stomach and a second crystal shattered. Yang didn't even know about a second crystal. "If you or any of your stupid fucking friends mock Neo again I will tear your throat out." He crushed Ember Celica.

"Diamond!" Violet got between them and pushed him back. "You can't just-"

He grabbed her collar and dragged her off. "Don't talk to her anymore."

"Roger that." Violet said.

Yang was still shaken, as far as their relationship was concerned she could definitely cross it off. At least she still had the blueprints for her weapon. "Ah one of Diamond's designs." The smith nodded. "I'm guessing he wasn't too happy with you if he didn't offer to repair it himself?" Yang nodded.

"How much will it be to get it fixed?" Yang asked.

"Missy even with the blueprints this is still a pile of junk." The blacksmith said. "I'm sure there are parts I can scavenge, but most of this is going to need to be rebuilt from scrap, and I don't know how else to tell you this but it's going to be different? You'd need to make amends if you want him to rebuild it to the way it was." He sorted through the scrap and moved a few good pieces off to the side. "Otherwise I can only consider this a custom order." Yang looked up at the prices of custom orders and knew she couldn't afford that.

"Can I pay what I have and work the rest of it off? I need these weapons when I head off to Beacon."

"To Beacon you say?" He rubbed his chin. "Well how about a couple of rounds in the ring, that should pay this off in no time." Yang sighed.

Amber had a lot of news to report, the whereabouts of a silver eyed warrior, the progress of her brother and his team, some information on Raven, even some progress she made on her own training while she was away. But most importantly she reported an out for an unexpected problem that Ozpin was having. As it stood Odin had been the obvious leader of their group, with Diamond being a close second, but no matter what way Ozpin arranged those letters it wasn't a word or color he could use. OVID, ODIV, OIDV, OIVD, DIVO, DOVI, DVIO, DVOI. Nothing worked, but Amber had sent him a video as a joke of the group escorting their close friend through one of the bad parts of town. The boys were all on high alert and giving off that vibe of get too close and die, while the girl they were escorting was practically sparkling as she explored this part of town, with her protective entourage. Then as a joke Amber said, "The Girl must be their leader." And upon further study he discovered her name was Violet. VOID.

"You can't be serious." Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose. "A five person team just to stick to the rule you forced on yourself?"

"You could never understand my struggle." Ozpin said.

"There are two Vs." She sighed.

"I'm sure Vanitas will not mind being silent." Ozpin said. "Unless I am mistaken I am the boss here I still sign your check at the end of the month."

"Fine." Glynda rolled her eyes. "I'm sure four teenage boys and one girl will work out just fine."

"I agree." Ozpin sipped his coffee, ignoring Glynda's sarcasm.

"Ignorance is bliss is it not?"

"It truly is." Ozpin nodded. "I wish I could be ignorant more often."

"I refuse to support that statement." Glynda said.

"Understandable." He nodded.


End file.
